Introduction
The world may be wide open to you as you look forward to life after high school, but you're probably more than a little bit anxious about all the decisions you need to make before graduating. Whether you're considering going straight into a career, going on to college, or something else, MyPlan.com has assembled a comprehensive set of tools and resources to assist you in preparing for this upcoming transition. We can help you decide which colleges to apply to and which careers to consider. We can help you decide which majors to look into if you're planning on going to college. We can even help you better understand how your unique composition of personality, interests, skills and values might affect your ultimate career preferences.

Below, you will find an introduction to just some of the resources available to you on our site – described in the context of how they might help you at whichever stage of career or college planning you might be at. The next step is for you to lay out an academic and career path that best compliments who you are and best prepares you for what you want to be. You can take control of future success today by simply deciding to make it your plan.

College Planning
If you're planning on going to college, check out some of the college-related resources listed below. You'll find everything from detailed college profiles to advice on getting financial aid.

Paying for college.
Applying for financial aid can sometimes be a long and complicated process, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming. The information and articles in the Financial Aid Guide will provide you with a clear outline of what your options are and how to best go about securing financial aid. Step-by-step guidance and practical tips will dramatically improve your chances of successfully financing your education.

Choosing a major.
The MyPlan.com College Majors Database presents detailed profiles on the nearly 1,200 different degrees and majors offered by U.S. colleges. This one-of-a-kind database, unique to MyPlan.com, allows you to search, browse and explore virtually every major or degree offered in America.

Getting college advice.
Visit our discussion forums and chat with others about any number of college-related issues, ranging from Financial Aid to What To Expect Freshman Year. There are even specific forums for most colleges in America. Chat with others who are also thinking about attending various schools or get advice from those who have already gone there. Ask questions and meet people!

Giving your opinion.
Consider taking the MyPlan.com promotional survey where you'll get a chance to rate colleges. Not only will you get to voice your opinion, but you'll also get a free career assessment test of your choice just for helping us out!

Fun stuff.
Sometimes you just need a break from the serious business of planning out your college education. Check out some of the more fun elements of our site: The Famous Alumni Database, for example, reports on where hundreds of celebrities went to college and what they studied. The Fun Stuff college discussion forum is host to several humorous topics about the less serious side of college.

Offline college planning
In addition to your online research and planning, there are several things you should consider doing offline as you map out your academic journey:

Visit your school's guidance counselor office. They can be very helpful in the application process including helping you get letters of recommendation, reviewing your essays, telling you about dates and deadlines, and helping you get your applications together.

Visit schools. If you can't visit the schools you're thinking about attending, you should at the very least take an online tour and speak to people who have gone to that school. Make sure to also meet with school representatives who come to your campus.

Speak to admissions and financial aid officers. Even if you don't think you'll qualify for financial aid, it never hurts to apply. At the very least, most students will qualify for some type of student loan. Most financial aid officers will also know about institutional scholarships that you may qualify for that are not found on various online scholarship databases. You should also keep in contact with the admissions office so that you know what's due and when.

Career Planning
Whether you're planning on going straight into a career or just thinking ahead about a career after college, MyPlan.com has the most comprehensive set of career guidance resources available anywhere.

Take a career assessment test.
MyPlan.com provides 4 career assessment tests professionally designed to match your personality, interests, skills and values to our database of careers. Each test comes with a detailed report and use of our unique CareerMatch™ system which scores and rank-orders 739 different careers based on your test responses!

Explore career options.
We have a database of over 900 different careers that you can search, browse or query through. The Query Tool will even help you match careers based on numerous criteria including location, salary and educational requirements.

Read through career profiles.
Each career in our database has a detailed, multiple-page profile that includes a job description, job requirements, salary data, employment data, articles, and forums for user discussion. Most career profiles even have brief videos that provide quick introductions to each career!

Watch career videos.
MyPlan.com streams 1- to 2-minute videos for nearly 500 different careers and industries. Videos can be found on the profile pages of most careers in our database. Alternatively, you can simply visit the Video Library to find a complete list of all videos.

Explore industries.
Sometimes it's as important to think about the industry you want to enter as it is the specific career you want to pursue. Explore our Industry Database to learn more about America's top industries.

Research salaries.
Let's face it... money matters. In addition to the salary report listed in each career profile, MyPlan.com has a Salary Calculator designed for simple and quick reference based on career and location.

Offline career planning
In addition to your online research and planning, there are several things you should consider doing offline as you map out your career path:

Visit your school's guidance counselor office. They can provide you with invaluable career advice, especially if you're thinking about going straight into a career. And, they sometimes offer free career assessment tests. Ask them if they have a license code to any or all of the MyPlan.com career assessment tests.

Think about apprenticeships or internships. Both offer on-the-job training and can help you get started in careers that are sometimes very difficult to enter otherwise.

Interesting Fact

Until 1796, the state of Tennessee was called "Franklin."

Did you know...

The MyPlan.com Graduate School Database provides detailed profiles on more than 1,800 different graduate schools in the U.S.